Archives: Press Releases

The Capital Region community will have an opportunity to purchase beautiful fair trade products and Judaica for this holiday season and help people in need through B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation’s Fair Trade Sale, Judaica Sale, and clothing and blood drives Sunday, Nov. 12.

The Fair Trade and Judaica sales will be held 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the synagogue, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York. The American Red Cross bloodmobile will be on-hand 9 a.m.-1 p.m.to collect badly needed blood donations, and the congregation will hold its semi-annual used clothing collection.

Buying fair trade goods means buying products from producers in developing countries at a fair price. It is a more efficient way of promoting sustainable development than traditional charity and aid. Buyers have the ability to make a difference in the lives of the producers, who often cannot find employment in the countries in which they live. Fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate are grown and produced sustainably.

The Judaica Sale will feature beautiful items from the congregation’s Judaica Shop, offering a selection appropriate for all Jewish occasions as well as gifts for her, for him and for the home.

In addition, B’nai Sholom will accept clean, gently used winter clothes and shoes for donation to those in need throughout the Capital Region. Donors are asked to sort their clothes twice: by gender – male, female and unisex – and again by age – infant, child, teen and adult – and to label their bags.

Lastly, the blood drive will welcome donors by appointment and walk-in. Right now, the American Red Cross urgently needs blood donations. To schedule a time, phone the synagogue office or visit www.redcross.org.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany presents a screening of “Lemon Tree,” a 2008 Israeli allegory about the lengths that a Palestinian widow must go through to stop the Israeli defense minister, her neighbor, from destroying the lemon grove that her family has cultivated for generations.

“Lemon Tree” will be shown Saturday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York. (Note: this is a new date; original screening was postponed.) Refreshments will be available. Suggested contribution: $5.

Set in the West Bank, “Lemon Tree” tells of Salma Zidane, who ekes out a meager living tending to her trees. When Israeli Defense Minister Israel Navon and his wife move in across the way, his security guards demand that Salma remove the trees, which could shelter terrorists. The defense minister’s new home sits on the Israeli side next to the dividing line. Refusing to bow down, Salma seeks help but gets nowhere with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. In desperation, she engages a lawyer, Ziad Daud, to take her case to the Israeli Supreme Court, which brings international attention. As the trees start dying while the court deliberates, the defense minister’s wife looks on with sympathy for Salma.

“Lemon Tree” was directed by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, whose 2004 movie “The Syrian Bride” looked at tensions along the Israeli-Arab border. With “Lemon Tree,” Riklis presents a positive and personal view that offers an understated and thought-provoking vision of the West Bank troubles.

Riklis’ critically acclaimed “Lemon Tree” won the “Panorama Audience Award” at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival, “Best Performance by an Actress” and “Best Screenplay” at the 2008 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and the Women Film Critics Circle awarded it “Best Female Images in a Movie” in 2009. The New York Times named it a 2009 “NYT Critic’s Pick,” while The Washington Post called it a “powerful film.”

The 106-minute film is in Hebrew, English and Arabic with English subtitles.

Led by Rabbi Don Cashman, B’nai Sholom’s spiritual leader, the seven-session course will consider how animals are raised and slaughtered, how vegetables are grown and brought to market, how workers on the farm and in the market are treated, and how what we eat may affect our health. What could be more “ripe” as a determinant of personal ethics than concern for what we buy, cook, serve and eat? “The Ethics of Eating” will look at diet as an element of Jewish identity, traditional kashrut and the historical Reform attitudes toward it, and how an evolving Reform Jewish ethic may be something very different from grandmother’s two sets of dishes.

Registration is required. Cost is $48; for B’nai Sholom members, it’s just $36. The required text, The Sacred Table: Creating a Jewish Food Ethic (CCAR Press, 2011), is an additional $20 for print version, $13 as a PDF or $10 as an e-book. Order through B’nai Sholom by Oct. 16.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

Seth Rogovoy, termed “American Jewry’s greatest Dylan scholar” by Religion News Service, will present a multimedia program exploring the Jewish influences in the life and work of the recent Nobel Prize winner at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany.

“The Kabbalah of Bob Dylan” will be presented Saturday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m. at the synagogue, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany. Tickets are $10, available at the door.

With the aid of audio clips, video, still images and textual comparison, Rogovoy will illustrate how Dylan’s songwriting has always been profoundly rooted in Jewish writings, including the Torah, the Prophets, the Talmud and mysticism, fusing these inspirations into a genre of “rock ’n’ roll midrash.”

Along the way, the program will examine the Minnesota-born folksinger’s deeply religious and cultural upbringing, his commitment to Jewish practice and causes and his decades-long connection to the Jewish outreach organization Chabad. Attendees will learn how Dylan grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home in a family that was at the very nexus of his hometown’s Jewish community; how classic Dylan songs including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “All Along the Watchtower” and “Forever Young” have their lyrical roots in the words of prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and in Jewish liturgy; and view rare video footage of Dylan performing Jewish music and quoting from the Book of Psalms.

In addition, the audience will be treated to a concert of Dylan’s Jewish-influenced songs performed by resident B’nai Sholom folkies Rabbi Don Cashman and Phil Teumim and perhaps a special guest or two.

Author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner, 2009), Rogovoy is a familiar name to public radio listeners and Berkshire readers. He was a music critic and arts writer at the Berkshire Eagle for 16 years, was founding editor of Berkshire Living magazine, and his weekly cultural commentary has been heard on WAMC Northeast Public Radio for more than two decades.

Rogovoy also is an expert on klezmer, having penned The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music (Algonquin, 2000), the all-time best-selling guide to the music.

Rogovoy was awarded the 2016 Simon Rockower Award from the American Jewish Press Association for excellence in arts and criticism for his portrait of musician Leonard Cohen, published in the April/May 2015 issue of Hadassah Magazine.

Rogovoy is a contributing editor to the English edition of the Forward, for which he has written for more than 25 years. His work has been published in Haaretz (Israel), Jewish Press (U.K.), Jewish Quarterly (U.K.), Tablet, Pakn Treger, Berkshire Jewish Voice, Newsday, Boston Phoenix, Chronogram, Woodstock Times and others.

Rogovoy’s books will be available for purchase and signing at the Oct. 21 program.

Yoga for Rosh Hashanah will be offered in two sessions Monday, Sept. 11, 10 a.m.-11:15 a.m. and 7 p.m.-8:15 p.m. The same class will be taught at both sessions. B’nai Sholom is located at 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

Each 75-minute class will use the tools of yoga, including movement, breath work and meditation, to create an opportunity for reflection and centering at this special time in the Jewish calendar.

The course will be taught by Abby Horowitz (RYT-200) of Albany. Horowitz received her yoga certification from the Center for Integrative Yoga Studies in Atlanta and holds a master of arts degree in Jewish studies from Emory University.

Cost of each session is $10, and advance registration is requested. No previous yoga experience required. Participants should bring a yoga mat and/or a large towel or two, water and an open heart and curious mind.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation is opening its doors to welcome the Capital Region community for the High Holy Days with complimentary attendance at all services and by adopting Mishkan HaNefesh, the inspirational new prayer books of Reform Judaism for the Days of Awe.

The congregation once again offers visitors and guests the opportunity to attend High Holy Day services at no charge. They can attend any or all of the services either as guest of a congregation member or by making arrangements directly with the synagogue office. Guests also may enjoy B’nai Sholom’s reception after the Rosh Hashanah evening service, lunch at a congregant’s home after Rosh Hashanah morning service and the break-fast following the concluding service on Yom Kippur.

B’nai Sholom has adopted the two-volume Mishkan HaNefesh, published in 2015 by the Central Conference of American Rabbis to succeed Gates of Repentance as the prayer book for the sacred days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. A hugely successful fundraising campaign enabled the congregation to exceed its goal of purchasing 200 sets. The format of the new prayer book parallels Mishkan T’filah, incorporating updated translations, readings and poetry, as well as easily accessible transliteration and other liturgical innovations.

Gates of Repentance has served Reform congregations since its introduction in 1978 and was a liturgical innovation in its time for including more Hebrew and incorporating gender-neutral language. The prayer book is still used by Reform congregations throughout North America, and B’nai Sholom has donated 110 of its Gates of Repentance copies to City Shul, a four-year-old Reform synagogue in Toronto.

The High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashanah on Wednesday evening, September 20.

“The translations in this new book are skillful and meaningful, and the new prayers will enliven worship. Our excitement percolated through the congregation so that achieving our fundraising goal for the books was done simply and quickly. I know that it will be a universally welcomed change, one that comes once in a generation,” said Rabbi Donald P. Cashman, who has been the congregation’s spiritual leader since 1985.

“We love having visitors with us at our Days of Awe services,”’ said congregation president Libby Liebschutz. “We are proud that so many people find our services to be accessible and meaningful, even when they are worshiping with us for the first time.”

For families, B’nai Sholom offers a specially tailored program for children in grades K-4 on both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur mornings, and babysitting is available at those times for children ages 4 and under. Advance registration for babysitting is requested.

Rebecca Pacuk, a graduate of the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music and an Albany area native who attended B’nai Sholom during her youth, will be the cantorial soloist for the Days of Awe once again. Pacuk is a music teacher in Salem, New Hampshire, and resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In addition, Elizabeth M. Huntley will return to furnish harp accompaniment to the services. She is principal harpist with the Glens Falls Symphony and has performed widely as a soloist, in regional productions and orchestras and with touring musicians. Since 1998, Huntley has been the editor of The American Harp Journal.

B’nai Sholom is located at 420 Whitehall Road in Albany. For the full schedule of High Holy Day services, and forms for registering to attend and reserving childcare, visit the website at www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

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Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

The many talents of the region’s Jewish community will be on display at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation’s 11th Bet Kafeh (“Coffeehouse”) on Saturday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at the synagogue, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

Hosted by singer/songwriters Phil Teumim, Will Vail and Jeff Klamka, the open mic event will showcase the singing, storytelling, poetry recitation and musicianship of the Jewish community. Everyone is invited to perform. Sing a song, play an instrument, tell a story, read some poems or tell a joke or two. Sign up in advance or at the door. Listen and appreciate, or perform and be appreciated.

Coffee and refreshments will be available. Free admission: donations appreciated.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region, creating a vibrant Jewish present that links ancient traditions with the promise of the future. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany will kick off a year of focus on tools and strategies for advocating on issues with a Social Action Shabbat talk by Justin Harrison of the Albany chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Harrison will deliver his talk during the congregation’s Friday, April 28, Shabbat service. The service and program, open to all who wish to worship and learn, begin at 8 p.m. B’nai Sholom is located at 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

Harrison, who chairs the NYCLU Albany chapter’s legal committee, will discuss peaceable assembly, First Amendment rights, how to deal with police and counter-protesters, as well as other issues relating to advocacy and protest. A question-and-answer session will follow during the oneg Shabbat after the service.

Throughout the coming year, B’nai Sholom’s Social Action Committee will examine issues and legislation and provide approaches for congregants to add their voices to the discussion about the things that matter most to them individually.

“What do you most care about? Intolerance? The environment? Health care? On April 28, learn tools and strategies to let your voice and your view be heard,” said Rebecca Marvin, Social Action Committee co-chair.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, the youngest woman ever elected to the New York State Assembly and the first legislator to be born in Israel, will discuss her work in the Assembly specific to the Jewish community and what it is to be a young, Sabbath-observant woman legislator with Israeli-Argentinian roots in today’s world in a talk at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation.

Rozic will deliver her talk, “To Be Young, Female, Jewish and a Member of the New York State Assembly,” Monday, April 3, at 7 p.m. at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

The program is free and open to the public.

Rozic represents New York’s 25th Assembly District, which spans the northeast portion of Queens. Upon her election in 2012, she became the youngest woman in the legislature and the first woman ever to represent the 25th district. Born in Jerusalem and raised in Queens, Rozic dedicated herself to public service at an early age and remains committed to social justice. Prior to her election, she was chief of staff to Assembly member Brian Kavanagh. Rozic was selected as a “Rising Star” on City & State’s annual list of the “Next Generation of Political Leaders” and The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36.” She was a finalist for the first EMILY’s List “Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award.”

Rozic also is the first New York Assembly member born in Israel – she still has Israeli citizenship – with parents who made aliya from Argentina. Rozic proudly keeps an Israeli flag at her desk in the Assembly, but her connection is not just symbolic. Being Israeli “definitely brings meaning to the job,” Rozic said in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post.

A graduate of Solomon Schechter School of Queens and New York University, Rozic, who speaks English, Hebrew and Spanish, proudly calls Fresh Meadows home.

For more information about the April 3 program with Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office by email at office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us or phone 518-482-5283.**********Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany will present a screening of “Divided We Fall,” a Czech story of a hero against his will set in a small Czech town occupied by German forces during the last years of World War II.

“Divided We Fall” will be shown Saturday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York. Refreshments will be available. Suggested contribution: $5.

Director Jan Krebejk’s film provides a unique Czech perspective on the Holocaust. A childless couple, Josef and Marie Cizek (Bolek Polivka and Anna Siskova), watch helplessly as the Jewish family of their employer, the Wieners, is removed from their own home and subsequently deported to Theresienstadt. Years later during the height of the war, young David Wiener (Csongor Kassai) manages to escape from a work camp in Poland and shows up in his hometown seeking a place to hide. After the first person David asks for help tries to turn him in, he finds the Cizeks, who reluctantly give him shelter. The Cizeks now face the danger of discovery by the Nazis, especially by their longtime friend Horst Prohazka (Jaroslav Dusek), who is now attracted to Marie Cizek. In an effort to avoid discovery, Josef pretends to be a collaborator. Ensuing events ensnare Josef, Marie and everyone around them in a series of absurdist situations as comical as they are horrifying.

The 2000 film received the Czech Lion Award for “Best Film” and was nominated for a 2001 Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film.” The New York Times called “Divided We Fall” “pervaded with humor that serves not to sentimentalize or sugarcoat the monstrosity of Naziism, but to explain it.”

The 120-minute film is in German and Czech with English subtitles. It is rated PG-13 for scenes of violence and implicit sex.

A new course taught by Rabbi Don Cashman at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation will look at the stories of Tevye the dairyman and the degree to which they did or did not reflect the realities of Jewish life in czarist Russia.

“The Tevye Stories: Fact in Fiction” will be offered Mondays from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. beginning February 27 at the synagogue, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

According to Cashman, “We’ve all seen ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and know all the lyrics, and we know the book is always better than the movie. Or is it? The underlying short stories give us much more historical detail than Broadway gave us. The Jewish character of the stories, too, is much more pronounced, as one would expect from literature written in Yiddish.” Participants will read two stories per week from Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye the Dairyman and some of the Railroad Stories as a basis for delving into events and Jewish life in czarist Russia. The course also will examine how Broadway and Hollywood handled certain points.

Registration for this six-class course and purchase of the book are required. Cost of the course is $45; for B’nai Sholom members, it is just $30. Participants may obtain the book, Hillel Halkin’s translation of Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories (Schocken), through the synagogue for $17 or on their own. Deadline to purchase the book through B’nai Sholom is February 17 to ensure that it arrives by the start.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region, creating a vibrant Jewish present that links ancient traditions with the promise of the future. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

Hot chili, cold beer and every cook’s chance to be the best chef at a Jewish-style cook-off contest.

It’s the fifth Chilipalooza at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation.The spicy deliciousness takes place Saturday, February 4, at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.Chilipalooza is open to the public. Admission is $8 per person with a maximum of $20 per family. Contest entrants receive a $4 discount. Cornbread, fixings and beverages will be provided.

In addition, Shmaltz Brewing Co. returns with a “He’brew” Beer Tasting Table for those 21 years of age and older. Ten dollars will buy five beer tasting tokens and a souvenir glass. Paired with chili contest entries, this should be the perfect antidote to a cold February evening.

Chili buffs are encouraged to enter their favorite kosher-style recipes in one of two categories: meat (no pork or shellfish allowed, please), and vegetarian. The audience will sample each and vote for the best palate-pleasers. Winners will be determined after two rounds of tasting. Top three vote-getters will receive awards. Everyone gets to enjoy a delicious, informal culinary experience with an array of chili styles and tastes.

To enter the cook-off, contestants should plan to arrive at the synagogue by 5:30 p.m. with their chili pre-heated in crockpots set on “low.”

For more information about the February 4 Chilipalooza, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation continues its popular “Synagogue Scholars” series with a book discussion by University at Albany Professor Martha Rozett of The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks.

Rozett will lead the conversation immediately following the congregation’s Friday, January 27, Shabbat service. The service and program, open to all who wish to worship and learn, begin at 8 p.m. B’nai Sholom is located at 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

The Secret Chord is a rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of People of the Book and March. Brooks brings King David to life tracing the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, from shepherd to soldier, from hero to traitor, from beloved king to murderous despot and into his remorseful and diminished dotage. The New York Times called it a “thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David – makes a masterly case for the generative power of retelling.”

Rozett’s own most recent work is When People Wrote Letters: A Family Chronicle (The Troy Book Makers, 2011), a story told through family letters and autobiographies about the travels and careers of her mother and great aunt and about a romance threatened by the differences between New England Episcopalians and New York Jews. A Shakespeare scholar, she authored Constructing a World: Shakespeare’s England and the New Historical Fiction, a look at the way historical novelists challenge our assumptions about the past, and Talking Back to Shakespeare, which examined the way Shakespeare’s plays have been appropriated and transformed. Rozett is a professor of English at UAlbany with an affiliate appointment in Judaic studies. She frequently teaches contemporary historical fiction, including fiction on the history of the Jews, and lectures in the community at Bethlehem Institute for Lifelong Learning and at the Albany Public Library. Rozett holds a doctorate in English from the University of Michigan.

Begun in 2004, the “Synagogue Scholars” series spotlights individuals in the Capital Region Jewish community who are recognized scholars in their fields.

B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany will hold a special children’s Shabbat service and confer Hebrew names on Jews who don’t have one Saturday, January 21.

Tefilat Talmidim and naming service will be held at 10:30 a.m. at B’nai Sholom, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York. The service will feature reading from a young person’s prayer book, a “PJ Library” book read by Amy Drucker of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, and refreshments. In addition, Rabbi Don Cashman will bestow Hebrew names on those who seek them in a Jewish ritual setting.

All are welcome. Please bring children and grandchildren to this special service. Contact Julie Friedman at 518-439-8106 orjbfriedman8@gmail.comif you plan to attend.

“Hebrew names are used when a person is called to the Torah at a bar or bat mitzvah, on the ketubah (marriage document) and during the memorial prayer at funerals and services. If you lack a Hebrew name, or your children did not receive one at birth, we will delight in conferring them in the presence of your family and the congregation. The goal is a Hebrew name for everyone,” said Rabbi Cashman.

To receive a Hebrew name at the special service, contact Rabbi Cashman by January 17 by email at rabbi@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us or phone 518-482-5283.